Óláfr pái Hǫskuldsson’s landing in Ireland (Laxdæla saga) in light of the Irish law of the shore

Abstract

This article compares the commercial knowledge of a Norwegian skipper in the Icelandic Laxdæla saga with the medieval Irish law of the shore, now accessible in recently edited Irish legal tracts. His knowledge of Ireland is matched by the ship’s master, Óláfr paí Hǫskuldsson, son of an enslaved mother but grandson of an Irish king. The essay reviews the possibility of cultural transfers from the medieval Norse-Celtic world of Ireland and the Scottish Isles to settlement-era Iceland in the spheres of story-telling, law, and governance.